[davidcotton]

I am in a dilemma! My cord on the 565's have pretty much given up the ghost on the right hand side (why is it always the right has anyone figured that out yet??!!

)

As I see it I have two options

a) Replace said cord with another one for £25.00 (for the second time!)

b)Replace said headphones with something like the 580's at £80.00

I just feel that the bass is somewhat lacking in the 565's although the midband is amazing, of course that could just be the recordings on my cds!

After all the amount of raving that the people on here do about them I am curious as hell as to how they sound....

Oh and I have a Musical Fidelity x-cansv2 and x-psu

Incidentally what sort of impact does the choice of interconnects have on the sound? I am using QED qunex 1 at £20.00 a pair are these good enough?


Thanks in advance

 

[Duncan]

I think if you read my profile that i am a PERFECT candidate to answer your question

The 565s sound slightly louder than the 580s (150 compared to 300 ohms) but, they also sound SERIOUSLY congested in comparison, the 580s on the X-Cans can really allow you to see INTO the recording (without being analytical) whereas the 565s only let you look at the outside...

It is a COMPLETELY different listening experience... granted the 565s might sound better for Dance / Rock music, but for slower, more gentle music there is no way that the 580s could lose

Tonally, they are much of a muchness, the 565s maybe sounding slightly more vibrant in the mids due to there forwardness... but, if you do an A-B between the two, that actually becomes a BAD thing

If you want me to demo specific genres of music send me a PM or something... Hope this helps?!

(by the way, it was actually my LEFT channel that died on my 565s... but, that was because I trod on the cord, ripping the connectors out, and snapping the hair-thin wire from the drive-unit

)

 

[davidcotton]

Duncan

So how would you rate the 580's for stuff like Pink Floyd as that is the general area that I listen to? (Pendragon etc etc) Like I say generally the midband is fine it's just the bass that I find a bit dissapointing. I mainly listen to fairly upbeat stuff (though with prog rock there are a lot of songs that tend to build up from nothing in to a great big ending

Now that you have your 580's which do you find yourself listening to more the 580's or 565's??

 

[Duncan]

Hmm... Pink Floyd... The Wall / Final Cut / Pulse, just can't get them out of my CD Player at the moment

The HD580s have a deeper bass than the 565s, it is also smoother, more well defined...

Midrange : The Great Gig in The Sky, on the Pulse CD... (CD2 Track 5)... The whole package on this from the instrumentals to extra especially the vocals... is totally breathtaking on the HD580s, you can hear around the mixture... its really hard to describe, but... as a comparison... the HD565s are like a SLK500 Mercedes, whereas the HD580s are like a top of the line S500 Mercedes... essentially the same product, but the 580s just ooze class in comparison to the "fun" of the 565s (does that make ANY sense?!?)

Treble... I don't know what your opinion is on the HD565s treble, but... the 580s are more laid back, calmer... which makes for a more comfortable listen (IMO)

All in all the 580s kick butt with the X-Cans compared to the 565s, although the same ISN'T true on (admittedly cheap) solid state equipment (but... we won't go there

)

The other MAJOR difference between the two 'phones is the soundstage... as in the 565s don't seem to have one in comparison to the 580s!!

As to which 'phones I listen to... Hmm... well... this'll give you an idea of how good these 580s are...

Since getting the X-Cans last Wednesday, I have only listened to the 565s in terms of comparisons for you, and also myself... and... well, the Sony MDR-CD1700s, I don't have them anymore!! That might well tell you something

Any more questions... fire away

 

[davidcotton]

If you like Pink Floyd you GOTTA check out Pendragon! Especially the Masquerade Overture and the new one Not of this World trust me on this! Thanks for the info! Time for a think and a check of the bank balance me thinks! I'll probably audition them and get the 565' repaired at the same time!! Gives me an excuse to go to the hifi shop after all!

 

[Duncan]

If you do get the 580s, and you find them a bit thin in the midrange compared to what you're used to... easy quick fix (I've done this, and it was TOO much for me, but... everyones tastes are different....)

Quite simply... swap the drive units between the two sets of housings (565 -> 580 -> 565) the more closed nature of the 565s housings make the midrange more prominent on the 580 drive units...

That was todays handy hint sponsored by... me

I remember you saying once before about Pendragon... Is it the musical style (story based) that is the same between the two groups? that is what I really like about Pink Floyd... you can get engrossed by the lyrics, and not just the music

 

[Braver]

http://www.toffrecords.com/pendragon/uk/pend_uk.htm and check the lyrics

I'm not familiar with Floyd, but to me Pendragon is about the heartfelt vocals and the most passionate guitarplay I've ever heard. Nick Barret put his entire soul in his playing. Nothing deep and cryptic, but very personal.

sry, couldn't help reacting here

so..you figure the hd580 is good for prog, Floyd-style music? I'm not yet going to order anything, but I'm smewaht undecided between the hd580 and the Beyer dt931. How do those high-pitched synth-solos do on the Senn?

edit: forgot an "n"

 

[Duncan]

Hmm... Pendragon looks interesting (downloaded the MP3 sample as well as reading the lyrics)... My piggy bank won't stretch as far as buying a CD this month though

(sad, isn't it

)

Sorry Braver, I can't really A-B the Senns compared to the Beyers... I've not had the pleasure of listening to them... So, by my "prejudiced" ears, the Senns sound pretty darn good with ANY kind of music... but, that doesn't mean that they ARE good with any kind of music

Maybe someone can enlighten us both?

Also, I'd love to see a "Standard 580 vs Clous 580" comparison... I've seen one for the 600s stating that the whole frequency range was cleaned up... but, I want to know if that will be the same for the 580s too...